The Heavenly Chariot

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” — Jude 3 (KJV)

People sometimes think of “orthodoxy” as dull, safe and boring, like playing it safe while other people have exciting new ideas. Chesterton thought the opposite.

He says that through history, Christians have constantly been tempted to fall into one extreme or another. It would have been easy to go along with whichever fashionable idea was popular at the time.

“It is always easy to let the age have its head; the difficult thing is to keep one’s own.”

Think about how much pressure there is today to go along with whatever is trending: to believe what your friends believe, to think what your feed tells you to think. Following the crowd is easy. Keeping your head is hard.

Chesterton says there are many ways to fall, but only one way to stand: “there are an infinity of angles at which one falls, only one at which one stands.” Staying balanced is much harder, and much more exciting, than falling over.

Then he paints this picture of the Christian faith through the centuries:

“In my vision the heavenly chariot flies thundering through the ages, the dull heresies sprawling and prostrate, the wild truth reeling but erect.”

Isn’t that a thrilling image? Orthodoxy isn’t a slow, careful old man shuffling along. It’s a chariot racing at full speed, swerving to avoid crashes on every side, wild but still upright.

Chesterton also says that the rules of Christianity aren’t there to make life dull. He found that “the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.” Like the banks of a river, the boundaries let the water rush.

Jude tells Christians to contend for the faith “once delivered unto the saints”. That isn’t boring. It’s the adventure of a lifetime.

One thing to do this week: think of one popular idea that you feel pressure to agree with. This week, compare it carefully with what Jesus taught. Pray for the courage to keep your head, kindly but firmly.